University of Waterloo
Programs
48
Range spans
77–90
With co-op
45
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on 404 hectares (998 acres) of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates three satellite campuses and four affiliated university colleges. The university offers academic programs administered by six faculties and thirteen faculty-based schools. Waterloo operates the largest post-secondary co-operative education program in the world, with over 20,000 undergraduate students enrolled in the university's co-op program. Waterloo is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
How Waterloo actually handles things
From the OUAC’s Guidance Dialogues Resource Guide (Spring 2026), which OUAC publishes for guidance counsellors rather than students. Read the original. Policies change — confirm anything you’re about to act on.
- If you repeat a course
We will consider each case individually. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/repeated-courses
- Summer school, night school, e-learning and private school
We accept all approved courses through schools accredited by the Ministry of Education.
Once students have applied, we may ask them to identify courses they have taken or are taking outside of regular day school and to explain why. Taking required courses in summer school could negatively affect a student's application to some programs. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/repeated-courses
- Your Grade 11 marks
We may consider 3U/M grades for early offers to some programs. • Architecture: In early March, we will review both 3U/M and 4U/M grades to determine selection for the Architecture interview process. Grade 11 grades are used when we are missing a Grade 12 required course grade. | www.uwaterloo.ca/architecture/ future-undergraduate-students
- Whether your OUAC ranking matters
We do not review application ranking when making admission decisions. Students will receive an admission decision for every Waterloo program they apply to.
- If you don't get your first choice
We may consider students for an alternative, closely related program during the final round of decisions in May.
- Supplementary applications
We require an Admission Information Form (AIF) for certain programs. | https://uwaterloo.ca/future-students/ admissions/admission-information-form#programs
For Software Engineering, an online video interview is required and is strongly recommended for all other engineering programs.
Some programs require additional supplemental applications. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/admissions/admission-requirements
- Automatic entrance scholarships
NEW! International fee-paying students admitted to full-time, first-year degree studies starting September 2026 will receive $10,000 for their first-year studies. No application is required: https://uwaterloo.ca/future-students/financing/ international-scholarships
Students with an admission average of 85% or higher are eligible for scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $2,000. We calculate this average using the top six 4U/M or equivalent courses, including each of the required courses for the program(s) of admission. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/financing/scholarships
If a student's final grades are higher than their mid-May grades, we will upgrade their scholarship(s). We do not downgrade or cancel entrance scholarship offers based on final grades, provided the student fulfills all conditions on their offer of admission.
- Scholarship deadlines
https://uwaterloo.ca/future-students/financing/scholarships
- Scholarships you have to apply for
We also offer program-specific entrance scholarships ranging from $500 to $80,000. Most of our scholarships do not require an application, but a small number of scholarships do require an application for consideration with varying deadlines. This includes specific awards for Black students and Indigenous students.
- Bursaries
Each year we award Waterloo Entrance Bursaries, valued from $1,000 to $5,000, to Ontario students with demonstrated financial need who are entering their first year of postsecondary studies.
April 15, 2026, is the application deadline. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/financing/bursaries
- Special consideration
Students with significant circumstances that affected their marks and who were not accommodated through their school or relevant services can request special consideration for admission. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/applicants/special-consideration Summer/Night School, Virtual/e-learning, Private School and Correspondence Courses
We accept all approved courses through schools accredited by the Ministry of Education.
Once students have applied, we may ask them to identify courses they took or are taking outside of regular day school and to explain why. Taking required courses in summer school could negatively affect a student's application to some programs. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/admissions/repeated-courses
- Deferring your offer
Students may request a deferral of their admission for up to 1 full year. | www.uwaterloo.ca/future/defer
- When offers go out
We make admission decisions between January and May once updated grades are received from high schools. We include all required courses when evaluating a student's admission average.
All offers of admission are conditional upon completing OSSD and maintaining the grades indicated in a student's offer of admission.
All applicants must complete a Declaration of Academic Experience once we have acknowledged their application.
- Tuition deposit
Tuition deposit not required. However, students requiring an attestation letter will need to pay a $5,000 deposit. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/international-students/visas
Indigenous Tuition Waiver: https://uwaterloo.ca/indigenous/student-resources/ tuition-waiver-eligible-indigenous-students
- AP and IB
AP: We will consider granting transfer credit for courses with a minimum final grade of 4. The number of credits varies depending on the program.
IB: We will consider granting transfer credit for individual certificate or diploma Higher Level courses with a minimum final grade of 5.
The number of credits varies depending on the program. www.uwaterloo.ca/future/transfer-credits
- Changing programs
Environment: Geomatics name changed to Geospatial Data Science • Arts: Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies name changed to Sexualities, Relationships, and Families. Religious Studies name changed to Religion, Culture, and Spirituality. • Math: Applied Mathematics with Scientific Computing name changed to Applied Mathematics with Scientific Computing and Scientific Machine Learning. • Environment: The Knowledge Integration undergraduate program is pausing admissions for 2026. • Students can no longer co-register with Renison University College and the main Waterloo campus.
- Transfer credit
www.uwaterloo.ca/future/transfer-credits
- English proficiency
Accepted tests and required scores: www.uwaterloo.ca/future/elr.
Which mark they use when you take a course twice.
Whether courses taken outside your regular day school are treated the same.
Whether they look at Grade 11, and when.
Does the order you list programs in change anything?
Whether they'll offer you a related program instead.
Whether this university wants more than marks.
Money you get for your average without applying for it.
Awards beyond the automatic ones.
If something happened that affected your marks.
Taking a year before you start.
Waterloo's GPA scale — the percentage scale you are graded on once you arrive, from the registrar
Waterloo acceptance rate — why there isn’t one, and the published bars that decide instead
Waterloo entrance scholarships — all 35, and what your average is worth
What you apply to, by subject
Waterloo admits into 15 entry points across these 34 subjects. Some are direct entry; for the rest you apply to something broader and choose later.
- accounting
- architecture
- biochemistry
- biology
- chemistry
- commerce/business
- communications
- computer science
- criminology
- earth science
- economics
- education
- engineering
- english
- environmental science
- finance
- geography
- health sciences
- history
- kinesiology
- languages
- life sciences
- marketing
- mathematics
- medical sciences
- microbiology
- neuroscience
- philosophy
- physics
- political science
- psychology
- sociology
- software engineering
- statistics
How Waterloo is set up
Not a ranking — the structural facts that shape what a year here feels like, computed from Waterloo’s own listings. Universities list at different grain (Waterloo lists 48), so read the counts rather than comparing percentages between campuses.
94%
of programs offer co-op
45 of 48 listings. At that share, alternating work terms are the norm — expect your year group to rotate in and out of the city.
12/32
subjects you apply straight into
Most subjects here start with a broader first year — you apply to the faculty and choose the subject later, so 20 of the 32 common majors are declared after you arrive.
Living there
Guaranteed
first-year residence
For first-year and transfer students who apply for residence and pay the $500 deposit by June 8, 2027. Miss that date and the guarantee doesn’t apply. Placements can include Renison, United College and St. Jerome’s.
Source: uwaterloo.ca · checked September 11, 2026
33,735
full-time undergraduates
Fall 2025 count, including Renison, St. Jerome’s and Waterloo’s other affiliated colleges.
Source: Council of Ontario Universities (Ministry data, which counts diploma and certificate students too) · checked September 11, 2026
Compare first-year residence at every Ontario campus
Waterloo open house 2026
Every Ontario university open house this fall
Ontario Universities’ Fair, September 26–27. The University of Waterloo talk is in room 718B, Saturday hourly from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday hourly from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Plan your day
Where it is
Open in Google Maps · Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
All 48 programs
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- 90–97%Business Administration (Laurier) and Computer Science (Waterloo) Double Degree (Co-op Only)OUAC WBC· co-op· supp. app
- 90–97%Computer Science (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WCS· co-op· supp. app
- 90–97%Computing and Financial Management (Co-op Only)OUAC WCF· co-op· supp. app
- 90–97%Electrical Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WWF· co-op· supp. app
- 90–97%Software Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WSO· co-op· supp. app
- 87–93%Biomedical Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WBM· co-op· supp. app
- 87–93%Computer Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WWJ· co-op· supp. app
- 87–93%Mechanical Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WWH· co-op· supp. app
- 87–93%Mechatronics Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WMT· co-op· supp. app
- 87–93%Systems Design Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WD· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Accounting and Financial Management (Co-op Only)OUAC WXY· co-op
- 83–90%Architectural Engineering (Co-op only)OUAC WEA· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Architecture (Co-op Only)OUAC WR· co-op· supp. app
- 83–90%Business Administration (Laurier) and Mathematics (Waterloo) Double Degree (Co-op Only)OUAC WBA· co-op· supp. app
- 83–90%Chemical Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WC· co-op· supp. app
- 83–90%Civil Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WE· co-op· supp. app
- 83–90%Data Science (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WDS· co-op· supp. app
- 83–90%Environmental Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WEE· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Geography and AviationOUAC WEV
- 83–90%Geological Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WWG· co-op· supp. app
- 83–90%Health Sciences (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WF· co-op
- 83–90%Management Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WEM· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Mathematics (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WM· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Mathematics/Business Administration (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WMB· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Mathematics/CPA (Co-op Only)OUAC WN· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Mathematics/Financial Analysis and Risk Management (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WMF· co-op· supp. app
- 83–90%Nanotechnology Engineering (Co-op Only)OUAC WNT· co-op· supp. app
- 83–87%Science and AviationOUAC WSV
- 83–87%Sustainability and Financial Management (Co-op only)OUAC WSF· co-op
- 80–83%Biomedical Sciences (Regular only)OUAC WBS
- 80–83%Environmental Sciences (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WSE· co-op
- 80–83%Global Business and Digital Arts (Co-op only)OUAC WGB· co-op
- 80–83%Honours Science (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WS· co-op
- 80–87%Kinesiology (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WK· co-op
- 80–83%Life Sciences (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WLS· co-op
- 80–83%Physical Sciences (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WPS· co-op
- 80–83%Planning (Co-op Only)OUAC WP· co-op
- 80–87%Public Health (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WHE· co-op
- 80–83%Recreation & Leisure Studies, Sport & Recreation Management, Therapeutic Recreation (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WX· co-op
- 80–83%Science and Business (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WSB· co-op
- 80–87%Science and Financial Management (Co-op Only)OUAC WSA· co-op
- 77–80%Climate and Environmental Change (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WCE· co-op
- 77–80%Environment and Business (Co-op Only)OUAC WEB· co-op
- 77–80%Environment, Resources and Sustainability (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WER· co-op
- 77–80%Geography and Environmental Management (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WG· co-op
- 77–80%Geospatial Data Science (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WGM· co-op
- 77–80%Honours Arts (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WA· co-op
- 77–80%Honours Arts and Business (Regular/Co-op)OUAC WAB· co-op